City to Present Update on 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness

On Tuesday, January 23, the City of Missoula will present an update on ‘Reaching Home’, Missoula’s 10-year plan to end homelessness in the city council chambers from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Reaching Home coordinator Theresa Williams said the presentation will open with comments from the top two elected leaders in Missoula.

“We’ll have Mayor John Engen and County Commissioner Jean Curtiss opening up the presentation,” Williams said. “Then, I will provide on overview of our newly designed coordinated entry system that we launched last year. We’ll also have our community partners to talk about the new system, what are the benefits and successes of the program.”

Williams said the system has already generated positive results in helping Missoula’s homeless population.

“We now have real-time data of how many people are experiencing homelessness,” she said. “It used to be that we would have the information at a point in time in January, but now we’re collecting system-wide data so that we have a full picture of what all our partners are doing.”

Williams provided the contact points for anyone dealing with homelessness in Missoula.

“Contact the Poverello Center, the YWCA, the Salvation Army or by calling 2-1-1 through the Human Resource Council.”

The ‘Reaching Home Update’ will be Tuesday afternoon from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Missoula City Council chambers at 140 West Pine Street.